Recorded video streams, such as children's sports, music videos, cinematic movies, journalistic reports, interviews, vlogs (video blogs) or any other known video stream, are typically captured with digital video recording equipment, such as a digital video camera or a digital still camera with video capture capability, so that the resulting video can be viewed at a later time, shared with family and friends through e-mail or posted via the internet to a personal or business website, Facebook®, You Tube®, other social media, or the like.
The simplest method for producing a video recording is for a user to capture video footage by either continuously shooting video without stopping until the event is finished or for the camera operator to perform what is called in camera editing. In camera editing refers to starting and stopping recording to simulate a video edited in post-production. The advantage to this method is when the video recording is complete, the editing, if any, is complete and the user has a finished video. The disadvantage to this method is that the simplicity of the video production can result in an amateurish or extremely boring video editing job and the editing process can be slow and cumbersome, involving starting and stopping recording continuously so that the camera operator can reposition himself for a new shot or angle, adding to the possibility of missing a potentially great shot.
Another method for producing a video recording is for multiple camera operators to capture video footage without stopping until finished and subsequently producing the final video after the video shooting is complete. The advantages to this method are the opportunity for an interesting variation of shots with multiple camera angles captured and the potential for missing a great shot is lessened because the camera operators do not have to stop recording. A major disadvantage to this method is that it can quickly become an expensive and time consuming endeavor with a substantial investment in equipment and the time required to edit the video in post-production.
When there are multiple camera operators capturing video footage during an event for post-production editing, there is a critical need to communicate and direct a unified vision during the video production. Often times the requisite communications may be conducted by yelling across a video shooting set or by communicating over electronic communications devices such as external headsets. Such types of communications can be disruptive to the camera operators, the footage being captured and the director.
Current conventional schemes address the time consuming nature of post-production editing by facilitating a system for multi-camera production using multiple digital video cameras with wired connections to a computer. These schemes are geared toward professional level users with education and experience in the field and a substantial investment in high-end equipment, such as a computer, multiple digital video cameras, cables to connect the cameras to the computer, additional video capture cards to handle multiple camera inputs, software to manage the incoming video feeds from the cameras to the computer, and some type of headset communication system to handle direction to the camera operators.